Publications by authors named "Bryan Bassig"

Article Synopsis
  • * Results showed that a higher PRS was more strongly related to EGFR-positive LUAD cases (OR=8.63) than to EGFR-negative cases (OR=3.50), indicating a significant association based on mutation status.
  • * These findings imply that genetic susceptibility to LUAD differs in never-smoking East Asian women depending on whether the cancer has specific mutations, which could affect public health strategies and clinical practices.*
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The carcinogenicity of benzene was reevaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2017, with the Working Group reaffirming positive yet inconclusive associations with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). To extend our previous observation of a significant exposure-response for cumulative occupational benzene exposure and NHL risk among Chinese women in a population-based cohort in Shanghai, we extended follow-up of this cohort and pooled the data with a similarly designed population-based cohort of men in Shanghai. Cumulative exposure estimates were derived for 134,449 participants in the pooled analysis by combining ordinal job-exposure matrix intensity ratings with quantitative benzene measurements from an inspection database of Shanghai factories.

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  • * The newly developed multi-ancestry PRS showed a strong correlation with LUAD risk, indicating that individuals in the highest PRS percentile had significantly increased risk compared to those in the lowest.
  • * Findings suggest that those in the highest risk category have a lifetime risk of about 6.69%, and they reach the average population's 10-year risk for LUAD by age 41, highlighting the importance of multi-ancestry PRS for better risk assessment in this group.
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Diesel exhaust has long been of health concern due to established toxicity including carcinogenicity in humans. However, the precise components of diesel engine emissions that drive carcinogenesis are still unclear. Limited work has suggested that nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) such as 1-nitropyrene and 2-nitrofluorene may be more abundant in diesel exhaust.

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Background: With the exception of lung cancer, the health effects associated with diesel exhaust for other cancers and nonmalignant health outcomes are not well understood.

Objectives: We extended the mortality follow-up of the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study, a cohort study of 12,315 workers, by 18 y (ending 31 December 2015), more than doubling the number of observed deaths to , to evaluate associations between mortality and diesel exhaust exposure.

Methods: Quantitative estimates of historical exposure to respirable elemental carbon (REC), a surrogate for diesel exhaust, were created for all jobs, by year and facility, using measurements collected from each mine, as well as historical measurements.

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Background: The Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study (DEMS) was an important contributor to the International Agency for Research on Cancer reclassification of diesel exhaust as a Group I carcinogen and subsequent risk assessment. We extended the DEMS cohort follow-up by 18 y and the nested case-control study to include all newly identified lung cancer deaths and matched controls (DEMS II), nearly doubling the number of lung cancer deaths.

Objective: Our purpose was to characterize the exposure-response relationship with a focus on the effects of timing of exposure and exposure cessation.

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Article Synopsis
  • Lung adenocarcinoma is the most prevalent form of lung cancer, and existing known genetic risk factors account for only a small portion of its heritability.
  • A comprehensive genome-wide association study involving nearly 22,000 cases and over 150,000 controls identified 12 new genetic variants linked to the disease, raising the count to 28 variants across 25 distinct locations in the genome.
  • The study emphasized that these genetic markers are particularly significant in East Asian populations, especially among never-smokers, and indicates that further research could inform better prevention and treatment strategies tailored to these populations.
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Environmental exposures often produce reactive electrophiles in vivo, leading to oxidative stress, which plays a major role in carcinogenesis. These electrophiles frequently form adducts with human albumin, which can be measured to assess in vivo oxidative stress. Here, we aimed to examine the associations between circulatory albumin adducts and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), the most common adult myeloid leukemia that showed consistent associations with environmental exposures.

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Background: We previously found that occupational exposure to diesel engine exhaust (DEE) was associated with alterations to 19 biomarkers that potentially reflect the mechanisms of carcinogenesis. Whether DEE is associated with biological alterations at concentrations under existing or recommended occupational exposure limits (OELs) is unclear.

Methods: In a cross-sectional study of 54 factory workers exposed long-term to DEE and 55 unexposed controls, we reanalysed the 19 previously identified biomarkers.

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Background: We previously showed that exposure to 5-methylchrysene (5MC) and other methylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) best explains lung cancer risks in a case-control study among non-smoking women using smoky coal in China. Time-related factors (e.g.

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  • The report analyzes how health disparities related to race and ethnicity have evolved over time.
  • It focuses on the Healthy People 2020 (HP2020) objectives as a framework for evaluation.
  • Three specific measures of disparity are used to assess these changes in health outcomes.
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Objectives: Never-smoking women in Xuanwei (XW), China, have some of the highest lung cancer rates in the country. This has been attributed to the combustion of smoky coal used for indoor cooking and heating. The aim of this study was to evaluate the spectrum of cause-specific mortality in this unique population, including among those who use smokeless coal, considered 'cleaner' coal in XW, as this has not been well-characterised.

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Occupational exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE) has been associated with alterations in B-cell activation factors and an increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). Here, we aimed to examine the biological processes influenced by TCE exposure to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms. This cross-sectional molecular epidemiology study included data of 1317 targeted proteins in the serum from 42 TCE exposed and 34 unexposed factory workers in Guangdong, China.

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  • * The study analyzed data from over 10,000 NHL cases and used advanced statistical methods to find 17 significant genetic loci linked to NHL subtypes, including a new one at HHEX.
  • * Results show that while there is some shared genetic heritability among NHL subtypes, each subtype has unique genetic characteristics, with varying degrees of genetic correlation between them.
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Objectives: Diesel exhaust is an established human carcinogen, however the mechanisms by which it leads to cancer development are not fully understood. Mitochondrial dysfunction is an established contributor to carcinogenesis. Recent studies have improved our understanding of the role played by epigenetic modifications in the mitochondrial genome on tumorigenesis.

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Although prediagnostic circulating concentrations of the immune activation markers soluble CD27 (sCD27), sCD30 and chemokine ligand-13 (CXCL13) have been associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) risk, studies have been limited by sample size in associations with NHL subtypes. We pooled data from eight nested case-control studies to investigate subtype-specific relationships for these analytes. Using polytomous regression, we calculated odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) relating study-specific analyte tertiles to selected subtypes vs controls (n = 3310): chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL; n = 623), diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL; n = 621), follicular lymphoma (FL; n = 398), marginal zone lymphoma (MZL; n = 138), mantle cell lymphoma (MCL; n = 82) and T cell lymphoma (TCL; n = 92).

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We investigated whether exposure to carcinogenic diesel engine exhaust (DEE) was associated with altered adduct levels in human serum albumin (HSA) residues. Nano-liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (nLC-HRMS) was used to measure adducts of Cys34 and Lys525 residues in plasma samples from 54 diesel engine factory workers and 55 unexposed controls. An untargeted adductomics and bioinformatics pipeline was used to find signatures of Cys34/Lys525 adductome modifications.

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Data on incidence rates of myeloid malignancies for subtypes based on the World Health Organization (WHO) classification are lacking in Asian populations. We compared age-adjusted incidence rates for 27 myeloid malignancy WHO-defined subtypes in Hong Kong (HK) (2014-2016) with those for Asian and white individuals living in the United States (U.S.

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Diesel engine exhaust (DEE) is classified as a Group 1 human carcinogen. Using a targeted proteomics approach, we aimed to identify proteins associated with DEE and characterize these markers to understand the mechanisms of DEE-induced carcinogenicity. In this cross-sectional molecular epidemiology study, we measured elemental carbon (EC) using a personal air monitor and quantified 1317 targeted proteins in the serum using the SOMAScan assay (SOMALogic) among 19 diesel exposed factory workers and 19 unexposed controls.

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  • * A study analyzed antibody responses to EBV in 51 NKTCL cases and 154 controls, discovering that elevated IgG antibodies were more significant than IgA antibodies in distinguishing NKTCL patients from controls.
  • * Nine specific IgG responses were significantly higher in NKTCL patients, including three novel antibodies targeting EBNA3A, indicating unique immune patterns compared to other EBV-related cancers.
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  • * Two cross-sectional studies involved female coal users in China and male diesel factory workers, testing their urine for mutagenicity using the Salmonella Ames test to measure exposure levels.
  • * Results showed that coal users exposed to smoky coal had much higher mutagenicity levels than those using smokeless coal, and diesel workers had higher levels than unexposed controls, indicating a link between these emissions and increased cancer risk.
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Introduction: Commuting exposes millions of people to carcinogens from traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) but is seldomly considered in epidemiologic studies of lung cancer. In the prospective United Kingdom (UK) Biobank cohort study, we investigated associations between commute patterns, residential nitrogen dioxide concentrations (NO; a surrogate for TRAP), and lung cancer risk.

Methods: We analyzed 234,124 employed participants at baseline (2006-2010).

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  • - The study investigates the impact of diesel engine exhaust (DEE), a known carcinogen, on Alu retroelements—DNA sequences linked to genomic instability—among workers exposed to high levels of DEE compared to an unexposed control group.
  • - Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study with 54 DEE-exposed workers and 55 unexposed controls, measuring Alu repeat copy numbers in their DNA and finding a higher average Alu/Alb ratio in DEE-exposed workers.
  • - Results indicate a significant association between DEE exposure and increased Alu repeat levels, suggesting that such exposure could lead to genomic instability, highlighting the need for further research on environmental pollutants and cancer risks.
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